Green multicomponent efficient approach to (aryl)di(hetaryl)methanes bearing barbituric and hydroxypyridone moieties

The new multicomponent Knoevenagel–Michael reaction between benzaldehydes and two different CH-acids, N,N'-dimethylbarbituric acid and 4-hydroxy-6-methylpyridin-2(1H)-one, proceeds in refluxing ethanol in the presence of TsOH and affords the (aryl)di(hetaryl)methane products, namely, 5-[(aryl)(2-oxo-1,2-dihydropyridin-3-yl)methyl]pyrimidine-2,4(1H,3H)-diones, in 73–94% yields. The products contain two N-heterocyclic pharmacophore moieties and seem promising for biomedical applications.